Biathlon is the most popular TV sport in Norway, beating both cross-country skiing (second place) and alpine skiing (third place).
“This is great news for us who work with biathlon, and also great timing, considering we are headed into a season where Norway is hosting the IBU World Championships. This might just be the most important season for biathlon in Norway,” says Gunnar Glavin Nybø, director of communication and marketing with the Norwegian Biathlon Association (NSSF).
Winter sports have always been important to Norwegians, but biathlon and cross-country skiing have a special status.
“Winter sports have a strong position among Norwegian viewers, which was clear looking at the ratings for the national broadcasting channel NRK in January and February as well as the ratings for the independent channel TV2 during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi last year. Biathlon has produced top ratings for year, and along with cross-country skiing, the two are in a league of their own among Norwegian viewers, even compared to the huge international sports,” says Jens-Petter Gjelseth, director or information at the major distributor RiksTV.
Norwegians TV viewers were asked to rate sports from 1 to 15, where 1 was the top grade/most exciting and 15 was the bottom.
Here is how the survey shook out:
1. Biathlon (5,52 points)
2. Cross-country skiing (5,55 points)
3. Alpine Skiing (7,00 points)
4.Team handball (7,21 points)
5. Ski Jumping (7,54 points)
6. Track and Field (7,98 points)
7. Cycling (8,27 points)
8. Norwegian Soccer/football (8,39 points)
9. International Soccer/football (8,47 points)
10. Snowboarding/freestyle (9,16 points)
11. Speed skating (9,42 points)
12. Swimming (9,93 points)
13. Figure skating (10,15 points)
14. Basketball (10,94 points)
15. Boxing (10,98 points)
(Sources: NSSF, Riks-TV, Ipsos MMI)
The 2016 IBU World Championships will take place in Holmenkollen, Norway, from March 3-13 2016. Tickets go on sale on August 29, 2015.
To see highlights and past coverage, check out the IBU web streaming and TV channel